Jack (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
biotic_psychotic) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2019-01-28 06:05 am
biotic_psychotic) wrote in fandomhigh2019-01-28 06:05 am
Entry tags:
Civics - Art of Civil Disobedience Monday 4th Period
Jack watched the class come in and waited until they all took their seats. "Alright. Last few classes have been full of the heavy to give you an overview of how things have worked in this country. I've mentioned episodes of civil disobedience in passing but now we're going to start talking about how to use them to get laws changed. The main purpose of civil disobedience is to get attention. Thing is, you want to draw positive attention to your cause and keep the negative sh..stuff.. focused on whatever's opposing you. Not an easy thing to do. That's why most of it focuses on remaining nonviolent even in the face of violence done to you. Not always; as we talked about, sometimes there's a moment when you gotta act. You'll usually know it when it hits. Everyone thinks they'll act, that they'll do the right thing, because in their own minds everyone's the hero of their own story.
Reality is different. Sometimes you choke, sometimes you freeze right up and can't do anything, sometimes you're so scared for your own skin that you don't dare act. None of that's wrong. Most of it you can't help because the human brain's a really weird piece of meat. If you can act when that moment hits then you shouldn't be the one standing there waiting for someone else to move first. Someone has to start it. Instead of wondering who, change the thought to 'might as well be you."
Methods of Civil Disobedience
Passive
Picketing/Marching
Strikes/hunger strikes
Sit-ins/occupations
Parodies or mockery/hacktivism
Malicious compliance/passive non-compliance
Peaceful mob/rallies
Active
Vandalism/tagging/trespassing
Sabotage/property destruction
Whistleblowing/leaks
Roadblocking/treesitting/human chain
Cyber attacks
Angry mob/riot/black bloc
"So let's talk about this sh..stuff.. and how it's used.
Jack started them off with definitions and examples of each of the things on the lists and how they'd been used in the past.Which I wrote and it was so long I decided I'm handwaving it this way.
"The long of the short is: the more people you can get involved, the more attention you'll get. How's it used to change laws? Politicians take note of numbers. They have staff to go through newspapers to cut out clippings of anything where they're mentioned by name. Political cartoons get noticed. Parodies and filk songs and other forms of mockery can go viral on social media. If you can get enough people involved and get enough attention - and keep that attention from backfiring - you've got a pretty strong tool in your arsenal.
Let me be upfont about this: Active civil disobedience has the biggest chance to turn on you. Take whistleblowing or leaking. To do either of those things takes a measure of trust betrayal. To some people you'd be a hero but to others you'd be a traitor and even if your reasons were the best in the world it can blow right up in your face. Had a soldier who a few years ago leaked information that a foreign government was interfering in the most recent election. She was arrested and jailed even though her leaked information turned out to be valid and she was doing it for the right reason. She's not going to get out of jail anytime soon. She's not covered by the few protections civilian whistleblowers get because she was active military. Sabotage, rioting, property destruction - all that stuff is gonna get you people who think you shouldn't have done that for any reason - even people who agree with the why of why you're doing it. That the end don't justify the means. It's probably the single biggest thing that can cause civil disobedience to turn ugly on you faster than you think it can. It's why media campaigns are so effective at turning people against civil disobedience. All they gotta do is lie and say damage or violence happened, put it in the headlines. Weeks later post something on page 10 that says 'oops sorry we were wrong'. A lie can go around the world before the truth has even got its boots on. An example of that is a protest against the World Trade Organization some years back. There was some property damage and people throwing trash at police. A big newspaper printed that people were throwing petrol bombs into the buildings. Nobody ever did that but it divided attention and public opinion long enough to damage that protest beyond repair.
Your civil disobedience is a direct play to the social conscience of the public. You want them sympathetic to your points. You want them willing to act. To sign petitions, to call their Congresscritters, to join your protests, to spread the word. To get involved actively instead of sitting at home on their sofa wishing things would change. The more people you can get to agree that a change is needed or that it's a positive thing, the more likely you are to change the laws."
"Your assignment today: Pick something you consider an injustice. Pick something from the list and tell me how you'd use it to raise awareness and try to get the public on your side."
Reality is different. Sometimes you choke, sometimes you freeze right up and can't do anything, sometimes you're so scared for your own skin that you don't dare act. None of that's wrong. Most of it you can't help because the human brain's a really weird piece of meat. If you can act when that moment hits then you shouldn't be the one standing there waiting for someone else to move first. Someone has to start it. Instead of wondering who, change the thought to 'might as well be you."
Methods of Civil Disobedience
Passive
Picketing/Marching
Strikes/hunger strikes
Sit-ins/occupations
Parodies or mockery/hacktivism
Malicious compliance/passive non-compliance
Peaceful mob/rallies
Active
Vandalism/tagging/trespassing
Sabotage/property destruction
Whistleblowing/leaks
Roadblocking/treesitting/human chain
Cyber attacks
Angry mob/riot/black bloc
"So let's talk about this sh..stuff.. and how it's used.
Jack started them off with definitions and examples of each of the things on the lists and how they'd been used in the past.
"The long of the short is: the more people you can get involved, the more attention you'll get. How's it used to change laws? Politicians take note of numbers. They have staff to go through newspapers to cut out clippings of anything where they're mentioned by name. Political cartoons get noticed. Parodies and filk songs and other forms of mockery can go viral on social media. If you can get enough people involved and get enough attention - and keep that attention from backfiring - you've got a pretty strong tool in your arsenal.
Let me be upfont about this: Active civil disobedience has the biggest chance to turn on you. Take whistleblowing or leaking. To do either of those things takes a measure of trust betrayal. To some people you'd be a hero but to others you'd be a traitor and even if your reasons were the best in the world it can blow right up in your face. Had a soldier who a few years ago leaked information that a foreign government was interfering in the most recent election. She was arrested and jailed even though her leaked information turned out to be valid and she was doing it for the right reason. She's not going to get out of jail anytime soon. She's not covered by the few protections civilian whistleblowers get because she was active military. Sabotage, rioting, property destruction - all that stuff is gonna get you people who think you shouldn't have done that for any reason - even people who agree with the why of why you're doing it. That the end don't justify the means. It's probably the single biggest thing that can cause civil disobedience to turn ugly on you faster than you think it can. It's why media campaigns are so effective at turning people against civil disobedience. All they gotta do is lie and say damage or violence happened, put it in the headlines. Weeks later post something on page 10 that says 'oops sorry we were wrong'. A lie can go around the world before the truth has even got its boots on. An example of that is a protest against the World Trade Organization some years back. There was some property damage and people throwing trash at police. A big newspaper printed that people were throwing petrol bombs into the buildings. Nobody ever did that but it divided attention and public opinion long enough to damage that protest beyond repair.
Your civil disobedience is a direct play to the social conscience of the public. You want them sympathetic to your points. You want them willing to act. To sign petitions, to call their Congresscritters, to join your protests, to spread the word. To get involved actively instead of sitting at home on their sofa wishing things would change. The more people you can get to agree that a change is needed or that it's a positive thing, the more likely you are to change the laws."
"Your assignment today: Pick something you consider an injustice. Pick something from the list and tell me how you'd use it to raise awareness and try to get the public on your side."
Re: Sign in